I went to Elko, Nevada, on July 29th, 2010,\u00a0determined to see a Himalayan Snowcock, which hopefully would be # 684 on my list of North American birds.\u00a0 Upon our arrival late afternoon on the 29th my wife and I hiked the well-marked trail from the parking lot at the end of Lamoille Canyon to the near side of Island Lake.\u00a0 This was not a good idea.\u00a0<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n
Because it was late in the day, from the lakeside, there was neither sight nor sound of a Himalayan Snowcock.\u00a0 The scenery, however, was breathtaking.\u00a0 This is one of the nicest, most scenic\u00a0mountain hiking trails I have ever trod.\u00a0 The mountains, waterfalls, streams, mountain flowers, birds and little four-footed creatures were all lovely in their own special ways.\u00a0 The sunset view descending the canyon was stunning.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_1_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_2_placeholder\nngg_shortcode_3_placeholder\n
The next morning, July 30th, \u00a0my wife and I hiked the trail again, but more slowly than the evening before.\u00a0 It took us about an hour and a half from the parking lot to Island Lake.\u00a0\u00a0Initially we experienced the same results as the evening before: no Snowcocks.\u00a0\u00a0 We began to wonder if we had arrived too late in the day, again.\u00a0 It was then about 8:00 a.m.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We decided to go up higher by hiking around the right side of the lake.\u00a0 As we were doing this we met a returning birder who\u00a0told us\u00a0that he had seen and heard the Snowcocks that morning, high on the cirque above the lake.\u00a0 We continued onward and upward,\u00a0scrambling breathlessly over a couple of\u00a0 ridges without trails, until we arrived at the edge of what we later learned from a couple of young local hikers\u00a0is called the “Hanging Garden”.\u00a0 We stopped at the edge of that “bog”, because it was too wet to cross.\u00a0 We could at this point clearly hear Snowcocks calling high up on the cirque, in what seemed to be several different locations.\u00a0<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_4_placeholder\n
We began the painstaking process of scanning my telescope\u00a0across the upper reaches of the cirque from whence we believed the calls were concentrated.\u00a0 Soon, to my great excitement,\u00a0\u00a0a Snowcock came into view in my scope, and both I and my wife were able to observe it very well for several minutes as it slowly pecked its way along the thin and sparse line of vegetation on the steep slope above the blackish part of the\u00a0vertical wall of the cirque.\u00a0\u00a0 My wife, the photographer, was able to see the Snowcock in the scope but she was not able to find it through her camera lens, so we did not get a picture.\u00a0\u00a0We did spot a Mountain Goat, and she was barely able to\u00a0photograph it.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_5_placeholder\n
I was informed that Black Rosy-finches (which would be a life bird) were nesting in the heights above Island Lake, but I was not fortunate enough to find any.\u00a0 Nor did I spot a Calliope Hummingbird, the other potential life bird that has been seen occasionally in the Canyon.<\/p>\n
We enjoyed our banana, cheese and\u00a0bagel repaste back in the shade at the edge of the lake, birded the area a bit, and then hiked (slowly) back down to the parking area.\u00a0 We were very happy to have seen\u00a0our primary target, which can be found\u00a0nowhere\u00a0in North America but in the Ruby Mountains.\u00a0 The Black Rosy-finches and Calliope Hummingbirds will wait for another day in another place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A word about the hike:\u00a0 it is not terribly steep, but if you aren’t in good shape, take it slow.\u00a0 We are (well, ok, I am)\u00a0not very physically fit for a trek like this, but we managed to do it twice in two days with no permanent adverse consequences.\u00a0 The hike to the lake is about 2 miles, and the extension that we took the second day is probably another half mile or so.\u00a0 At about 10,000 feet, the air is noticeably thin and we needed\u00a0to\u00a0pause for breath every now and then on the way up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I went to Elko, Nevada, on July 29th, 2010,\u00a0determined to see a Himalayan Snowcock, which hopefully would be # 684 on my list of North American birds.\u00a0 Upon our arrival late afternoon on the 29th my wife and I hiked … Continue reading